The Great Outdoors

Chester Zoo

A great attraction all year around but with longer days and fairer weather, summer is the perfect time to take in some of the 8000 amazing animals. With the holidays also come some extra exhibitions. This summer the dinosaurs have returned and 19 life sized robot replicas of the terrible lizards will take visitors back 200 million years.

Jaguars at Chester Zoo, Manchester, UK by Mark Morleo

Canal Festival

Late August sees the Manchester Canal festival with plenty of outdoor activities near the water for all of the family to enjoy. With nature trails, arts workshops horse boat tours and the spectacle of a Float-In movie it’s a great excuse to take a trip down the Rochdale Canal.

The Manchester Picnic

While some food festivals are purely for the connoisseurs, this one invites all the family to enjoy the tasty treats on offer over a long August weekend. 16 gourmet street food traders from all around the world gather at Piccadilly Gardens to share their native cuisines that will inspire you to try some of the wonderful restaurants in Manchester. As well as the fantastic food there are also activities for children and live music on offer.

Rainy day outings

Manchester Museum

With an amazing array of exhibits from around the world over its four floors and 15 galleries, there is so much to explore. The special Unearthed: Ancient Egypt exhibition is perfect for children and they can gain and archaeology certificate by helping Professor Digby catalogue all of his finds in the Egyptologist’s storeroom.

National Football Museum

Football looms large in Manchester with the great rival between United and City. This museum explores the relationship football has with people through past and present. The museum features a series of exhibitions with displays on the world’s greatest players, the laws of the game, managers and stadiums there will be something to entertain any football fan.

Museum of Science and Industry

Located on the site of the world’s oldest remaining passenger railway station this museum tells the incredible story of Manchester’s industrial past. There is so much to learn about this city and its innovations in the past, present and future from the age of steam with locomotives to the space age in the planetarium.

Catherine Halsey writes for a digital marketing agency on a range of subjects. This article was written on behalf of Malmaison.

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Mount Etna, volcano, Sicily, Italy by andrea

While lava tends to flow from the volcano on a fairly regular basis, very few times throughout the island’s history has the lava actually made it to the sea. There are a number of peaks located around the slopes of Mount Etna. Because of its activity, during the days of the Greeks, Mount Etna was considered to be the home of the God of Fire, Vulcan. It was also believed to be where the Cyclops lived.

Because of its height, snow falls on the peak of Mount Etna during the winter months. As a result, it is one of only two locations on the island of Sicily where one can go skiing. The other one is in the Madonie Mountains. Skiing during the wintertime is a common occurrence, especially by the local population of the island.

There are a variety of different plant species that can be found along the slopes of the volcano. The most common trees that one can see are oaks and pine trees. The most commonly found plant in the foothills of the mountain is the Broom Plant which can be found everywhere.

There are many streams and ponds that can be found along the slopes of the volcano as well; especially in the denser wooded areas. Here you will find a number of amphibians such as frogs, turtles and toads. There are also a number of salamander species that live in the waters of Mount Etna. The largest lake that you can see along the slopes of the volcano is that of Gurrida Lake.

While there are roads that lead up into the upper portion of Mount Etna, the volcano is best explored on foot where vehicles simply cannot reach. There are a number of different nature trails that lead up into Mount Etna. On the western slopes of the mountain is the Monte Gallo to Rifugio della Galvarina trail, to the north is the Casa Pirao to Monte Spagnolo trail, then there is also the Monte Nero degli Zappini Nature Trail and the Mount Zoccolaro Nature Trail.

One of the more popular hiking trails up the slope takes you from Casa Pirao, up into Monte Spagnolo. The hike will take nearly five hours round trip. That does not include the times that you will want to stop, get something to drink and take some photographs of the awe-inspiring views. Do not forget to take enough water with you as well as something to eat.

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